Tess Seddon talks about staging Kay Mellor’s first hit play, A Passionate Woman, at Leeds Playhouse
30 years ago Leeds Playhouse staged A Passionate Woman by local playwright Kay Mellor who went onto pen massive TV hits like Band of Gold and Fat Friends.
The play is set in the 1990s with glimpses back into the 1950s as Leeds woman Betty reconsiders the decisions she’s made, and the roads she’s left untravelled.
Now this troubled woman at the heart of the play is returning to the same stage – the Courtyard – in memory of the much-missed writer who died a year ago. It’s directed by Tess Seddon, who lives in Leeds, trained at Leeds Playhouse and runs her own company, TheatreState, in the city.
Tess Seddon explains why A Passionate Woman, with Emmerdale star Katherine Dow Blyton as Betty, is making a comeback three decades on.
Why choose this play to direct?
Kay was such an ic...
